The insanity — what other word is there for the current state of affairs here? — continues.
Col. Nir Press, head of the Gaza Liaison Administration has given a statement to The Jerusalem Post :
"The situation in Gaza is not even close to developing into a humanitarian crisis."
Got that? Goes to show that you cannot believe everything you read, especially if it comes from UN sources.
How does Col. Press know there is no crisis? Well, last week, in a humanitarian gesture, Israel opened the Karni crossing to allow trucks of supplies to get into Gaza. It had to be closed again because of warnings of a terrorist attack at the site (which goes to show that the Israelis have more humanitarian concern for the civilian Arab population of Gaza than certain fellow-Arab terrorists do), but before it was closed almost 80 trucks of medicine and food got through. Colonel Press says you can tell from the sort of merchandise being ordered by the Palestinians whether there is a crisis or not. And in this instance, thousands of boxes of cherries were brought in.
And there’s more. Also out of humanitarian concerns, Israel on Friday offered to open the Keren Shalom crossing to allow 500 Palestinians waiting in Egypt to get back into Gaza. No deal, said Palestinian authorities (also obviously very concerned with humanitarian needs). Open the Rafah crossing or nothing. Rafah has been closed by Israel so that the terrorists could not sneak Gilad Shalit out of the area.
Somehow I suspect this isn’t making big news in N. America. You can help Israel by making the information known. Share it around. Write letters to the editor. Call the foreign news editor at your paper. The information is at: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885948573&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.
Remember the Jenin fiasco in 2002? The IDF, responding to a barrage of terrorism, had initiated Defensive Shield, with exquisite care to protect innocent Arab civilian life. Yet the Arabs raged and carried on about the "massacre" in Jenin, with hundreds dead and bodies rotting on the group. UN high level personnel participated in this, uttering bald lies about what was witnessed. Turned out there was no massacre. Well, they’re trying it again with Gaza, speaking about a humanitarian crisis that isn’t.
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It gets more and more obscene: According to a report by Ma’ariv that has been carried by several other outlets, Wasah Taha, an Israeli citizen and member of the Knesset, communicating on the Arabic IslamOnline Internet site several times advised that an option for Palestinians is to kidnap IDF soldiers. Shalit’s capture, however, shouldn’t be referred to as a kidnapping, according to Taha. "Kidnapping is an act carried out by gangs, terrorists, and the like. But ‘captive’ means that [it is carried out by] an organized, legitimate group that makes decisions. Israel is trying to present our resistance as something less – as terrorism, murder, and kidnapping – in order that the diplomatic circle will be closed to it." "Our" resistance?! Makes clear which side he is on, even as he now backtracks a bit on what he has said. When asked if he considers kidnapping soldiers legitimate, this man who sits in our parliament replied, "I think that any resistance to occupation is legitimate." This means he condones suicide bombings as well.
Predictably, there is outrage in the Knesset. He is being called a traitor and there are suggestions that his citizenship be revoked. Personally, the suggestion I like the best is that of Tzvi Hendel (National Union) who says we should trade the Arab MKs for Shalit. But while outrage and throw-away lines like this are fine, the final test of the integrity of the Knesset will lie in the willingness of its members to actually take action here. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.
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Avi Dichter, Minister of Internal Security, has been soundly criticized for suggesting the other day that Israel should trade prisoners for Shalit. The prime minister’s office has disassociated itself from this position, saying that the official position of no trade has not changed.
But consider this: At the Cabinet meeting yesterday, Olmert revealed that before the kidnapping, he had been considering a prisoner release "as a confidence building measure" before his meeting with Abbas. Oh my G-d! That again. How pathetic.
But, Olmert assured the Cabinet, "…we intended to release them to moderate elements and not to terrorist elements." Moderate elements? Surely he jests. Could it be that our prime minister is not aware that the "moderate" Mr. Abbas has signed off on the "Prisoners’ Document," which condones terrorism? And, what does it mean to "release them to (whatever) elements"? Once they are released they are released. Does he imagine that the PA security forces, which are allied with terrorists, would monitor their activities? Experience has shown, again and again, that terrorists released return to terror. Such releases put innocent Israelis at risk. But hey, anything to bolster Abbas, huh?
Such is the state of our affairs.
And please note that this gives the government its out: we’re not releasing prisoners in exchange for Shalit, we’re releasing them because of previous plans to do so.
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The IDF is on the move in Gaza, approaching Gaza City, and has taken out several terrorists. We’re hurting them without question. But not badly enough. Shalit is still in custody and the Kassams are still flying: over Friday and Saturday some 20 Kassams were launched and four Israelis were wounded. PA Prime Minister Haniyeh, who is worried about the collapse of his government is offering a mutual ceasefire and then negotiations regarding the fate of Shalit. Nothing doing, says Israel: Release Shalit, then we stop firing, and not before.
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This posting can be found at: https://41k.82b.myftpupload.com/current-postings/2006/7/9/posted-july-9-2006.html
